Decision to recognise Palestine 'irreversible', says Colombia president

Colombia’s recognition of Palestine is a decision that will not be reversed, newly elected President Ivan Duque told a local radio station.

In August, outgoing president Juan Manuel Santos made the decision to recognsie Palestine, meaning Colombia can no longer be branded as the only Latin America to not recognsie Palestinian statehood.

He handed a letter to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, saying Colombia has recognsied Palestine as a “free, independent and sovereign state”.

When asked about the decree, Duque said on Monday the recognition of Palestine is one that is “irreversible” because “the president of the republic is the person designated by the constitution to manage foreign relations.”

He also upheld the internationally endorsed Two-State Solution, saying it is a responsibility of the global community to work towards in order to achieve peace in the region.

“What we, the international community, should not do is be part of the problem, instead, we must be part of the solution. The solution is to form lasting peace, stability, and that the two-state solution will move forward,” he said.

Global figures have expressed concern that the two-state-solution has been put at jeopardy since US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital late last year.

In February, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Trump’s decree could create "an irreversible one-state reality" that would bury the two-state solution, saying there is no “plan b” if the plan was to fall through.

"Negative trends on the ground have the potential to create an irreversible one-state reality that is incompatible with realising the legitimate national, historic and democratic aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians," Guterres told a UN meeting of a committee on Palestinian rights.